A strike would shut down 36 ports that handle roughly half the nations’ cargo from ships.

Shipping needs to cut emissions rapidly, and there are no solutions widely available today to fully decarbonize deep-sea shipping. But there’s a lot of interest in ammonia as an alternative fuel.

Consumer surveys show that most Americans remain unhappy with the economy, still bruised by an inflation rate that hit a 4-decade high 2 years ago as the economy rebounded from the pandemic recession.

In this case, the Fed’s action was widely anticipated, so rates moved lower well before the cut was even announced.

Authorities blamed the blast on a leak of methane gas.